Lenco L-3810 Review
Because who doesn’t like a bit of modernity in their nice new record player?
Verdict
As a record player, the L-3810 is a punchy and upfront listen that’s undermined by a lack of treble energy. As a source of digital audio files, it’s very acceptable. But as a DJ deck, it’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing
Pros
- Organised, quite forceful sound
- Lots of features
- Makes a nice digital copy
Cons
- Needs more top-end presence
- Looks more DJ-friendly than it is
- Indifferent phono stage
Key Features
- CartridgeAudio Technica 3600 moving-magnet cartridge
- MotorDirect drive with pitch control
- Phono stageFeatures an integrated phono stage
Introduction
Any old record player will play records for you, of course. But what if you want to play records using a system that’s not really geared up to deal with a turntable?
What if you want to try your hand at a spot of DJing? What if you fancy digital copies of your records, so you can listen to them while you’re out and about? Well then, what you want is a Lenco L-3810… or, at least, you do if it’s any good at it…
Availability
The Lenco L-3810 USB turntable is on sale now in the United Kingdom for £279. In the United States it’s priced at $499, and in Australia it goes for AU$499. Which is not the kind of territory-dependent variation I’m used to seeing…
Established turntable heroes like Rega and Pro-Ject will happily sell you a record player costing around this money – but, as we shall see, they’re nothing like as extensively specified…
Design
- Plastic dust cover
- Grey or white finishes
- Rubber-sprung feet
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, there’s a certain Japanese audio brand with an iconic turntable or two in its back-story that must be feeling as flattered as can be. The Lenco L-3810 is not so much reminiscent of a Technics SL-1200 in the way it looks, more a tribute act. Its cylindrical power on/off switch, its square start/stop button and its speed-selection switches are all Technics-tastic.
The L-3810 is quite nicely made and properly finished, and can be had in either white or grey. The main body is almost entirely made of plastic, naturally – don’t forget how little, in relative terms, Lenco is asking for this machine.
It stands on four big, plastic feet with some rubber bushing to help both level the deck and isolate it a little from external vibrations. And Lenco supplies a clear plastic dust-cover that slips onto the integrated hinges at the rear of the chassis.
Features
- Integrated phono stage
- USB-B output
- Direct drive
Most record players costing this sort of money consist of a tonearm and a platter pulled around by a rubber belt. But the Lenco L-3810, it’s safe to say, is not most record players.
For starters, it’s a direct drive turntable – the platter is directly connected to the motor, in the manner beloved of DJs in general and Technics in particular. It’s an arrangement that promises optimal rotational stability and also speed in getting there.
There’s more of the Technics vibe elsewhere, too. There’s a target light (handy for cueing up tunes in the dark), a stroboscope (to confirm strict 33.3 or 45rpm) and a pitch control (effective up to plus or minus 10%) in case you don’t want strict 33.3 or 45rpm.
The aluminium tonearm is a ‘J’-shaped design, with a manual arm-lift – and the headshell attaches to it using a bayonet fitting. The headshell is complete with an Audio Technica 3600 moving magnet cartridge, which is pre-adjusted and simply requires fitting. Other than that, all the end user needs to do (apart from put the aluminium platter in position and the felt slipmat on top of it) is deal with the counterweight and anti-skate control.
At the rear, the L-3810 has your usual power supply input and stereo RCA outputs for connection to an amplifier or wireless speaker. But it also has a switch (phono or line) for the integrated phono stage, and a USB-B output. The Lenco can be connected to a PC loaded with Audacity (or similar) software, and then is able to make digital copies of your vinyl.
Sound Quality
- Good rhythmic expression
- Reasonably forceful sound
- Requires more treble presence and shine
Where the fundamentals of being a record player are concerned, the Lenco L-3810 is, broadly speaking, a good budget turntable undermined a little by its own frequency response. Which, I suppose, is another way of saying it’s good rather than great.
Where the bottom of the frequency range and its modulation into the midrange is concerned, the Lenco is an enjoyable listen. It’s got good low-end presence and control, and demonstrates a fair amount of variation too – so as well as expressing rhythms confidently, it keeps momentum levels high and can muster a polite level of attack. Tonality is on the lush side of neutral, but not fatally so.
Or, at least, it wouldn’t be any kind of issue if the L-3810’s treble response wasn’t so curtailed. There’s just not much by way of extension, or presence, or shine at the top of the frequency range – and the knock-on effect is that the overall sound is a little duller, and a little more pear-shaped, than is absolutely ideal.
There’s a degree of dynamism apparent through a listen to Anna Meredith’s Fibs – the Lenco is able to track changes in intensity and impetus fairly well, even if it doesn’t express them as fully as it might. But it manages to give voice to the less obvious, but no less important, harmonic variations that so much of Meredith’s material carries – and, in general, detail retrieval is pretty decent.
All of the above applies to the digital copies the L-3810 is capable of making, too. Obviously making digital copies of your vinyl is a real-time process – tedious, in other words – but there’s no denying the effectiveness of the system. If you want digital versions of your vinyl for use when you’re away from your turntable, the Lenco is as good an option as this sort of money can currently buy.
The integrated phono stage is a slightly more qualified success. Obviously it’s a great feature if you want to hook your L-3810 to a system or wireless speaker that doesn’t have the necessary oomph to make a turntable audible – but if your existing system has a phono stage already, you’re invited to compare each of them to the other. The Lenco’s phono amplification is effective inasmuch as it does a job, but it’s hardly the last word in refinement.
And as far as DJing with the L-3810 goes, the Lenco has ideas rather above its station. The direct drive motor is faster-acting than a belt-drive alternative, sure, but it’s far from instantaneous where start-up is concerned – and it can take a rotation or two before speed stability is established. And don’t even think about scratching while that Audio Technica 3600 cartridge is attached – that’s not what it’s for.
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Should you buy it?
You want as useful and adaptable a record player as this sort of money will buy
Where extended functionality is concerned, Lenco has most of its price-comparable competition licked
You’re expecting it to behave like a Technics SL-1200
I know that’s what it looks like, but you’ve got to be realistic…
Final Thoughts
I’m not unfamiliar with the Lenco modus operandi – and I’m aware that it can miss almost as often as it hits. Usually, though, that’s on a product-by-product basis – but the L-3810 manages to be a hit and a miss all at the same time. Which, while not ideal, does at least make the L-3810 one of the more unusual products I’ve listened to lately…
How we test
We test every turntable we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested for several days
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
You can rip your vinyl records to a digital file through the USB input, and as long as you have file-ripping software such as Audacity.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
